Yokai Quiz

Ittan-momen (Flying Cloth)

You flutter into view across the evening sky, changing shape with the wind as you sweep past people.

Step into viewChange to fit the sceneOut in the wild

The ittan-momen is a yokai from the Osumi area of Kagoshima Prefecture, in the far south of Japan. According to legend, at dusk a long white strip of cotton — one tan, or about 10 m — comes fluttering through the air and wraps itself around people's necks and faces.

The cloth has no fixed shape. Here, the way it billows out and then streams thin in the wind stands for someone who takes in the mood of a place and changes how they come across to match. Since it appears not indoors but in the wide evening sky, you're someone who comes alive in open spaces outdoors.

And the ittan-momen doesn't just drift in the distance — it comes right up close to people. Out and about, you can approach even people you don't know. But after too many days spent indoors with the same faces, you can slow down, as if the wind had dropped.

Strengths

When you're out somewhere, you can go up to people you've just met
When plans or the weather suddenly change, you switch course as if the wind had just shifted
You can change how you play on the spot to match the feel of an open space

Where you may stumble

When you spend day after day at home, your energy slowly drains away
Matching the mood here, there and everywhere, you lose track of which one you like best
You come in close too fast, and the other person tenses up

Sounds familiar, Ittan-momen (Flying Cloth)?

Your scarf spends more time streaming in the wind than wrapped around your neck
On days with a beautiful sunset, you're outside for no particular reason
At the beach, you've somehow ended up in a game of catch with strangers

Where you shine

On a day spent somewhere wide open with a breeze, playing with people you've only just met, the Ittan-momen's lightness really shows.

Tips for “Ittan-momen (Flying Cloth)”

Before you move in close, pause for a breath and see how the other person is doing
On days you can't get out, open a window and at least let the wind through
Of all the fun things you come across, jot down the one that moved you most

Matches

See every match in the Yokai Quiz compatibility chart →

Easy together

Kasa-obake (Umbrella Spirit) — The Kasa-obake is also an everyday object come to life — paper and bamboo instead of cloth. You're both yokai born from familiar things, and you both go right up to people, so you can swap stories about the frights you've given for as long as you like.

Easy together

Yamabiko (Mountain Echo) — The Yamabiko also lives under the wide open sky of hills and mountains, changing its voice to answer whoever calls. You both change your shape or your voice out in the open, so you naturally fall into the same rhythm when you play.

May clash

Zashiki-warashi (House Spirit) — The Zashiki-warashi wants to stay deep inside the house, just as it always is, felt more than seen. The Ittan-momen sweeps in from the open sky right up to people — you want to be in opposite places and show yourselves in opposite ways, so it's hard to find somewhere you're both comfortable.